How to make SADC's new election observer guidelines stick
This seminar will discuss how civil society can help ensure that SADC's new procedures are adhered to.
Date: 2016-07-26
Time: 10:00 to 12:30
Venue: Conference room
, ISS Pretoria
, Block C
, Brooklyn Court
, map
RSVP: Penelope Mandula
Phone: +27 12 346 9500
Email: [email protected]
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) election observer missions have been criticised for lacking rigour and transparency, notably in Angola in 2012, Swaziland and Zimbabwe in 2013 and Malawi in 2014.
SADC’s new 2015 guidelines could improve things dramatically. They say observers should begin their work at least three months before the polls, be present during the election, and remain on the ground for some time afterwards.
Civil society should also be included in SADC observer teams. This is good news but how will the new guidelines be implemented?
This seminar discusses the key changes and what civil society can do to ensure they are complied with.
Chair: Dimpho Motsamai, Senior Researcher, Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis division, ISS
Speakers:
- Tanki Mothae, former director, SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation
- Grant Masterson, Programme Manager, Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa
- McDonald Chipenzi, electoral expert, Zambia
